Hello everybody! So it's a new week, and time for a new MOTW, this week we'll look at Tech readout 3067's "cover girl" the Saggitire from Robinson Standard battleworks.
Sagittaire is, the best I can determine, the french word for the constellation Sagittarius. A centaur archer of myth, and much like the horse archers of old, the Sagittarie is a fearsome presence on the field of battle.
The Saggitire was first introduced in 3062 and was at the time of introduction a real beast, it should be noted that back when the Saggitre came out you could still location target with pulse lasers and thus the Sag was a damned scary mech (this mech is ONE of the reasons they nerfed the TC+Pulse combo) and for a good long time the classic 8R variant was our only variant.
The Saggitire in all its variants is a design for close combat, well suited to the brutal infighting of the Fedcom Civil War and the Jihad where it first bloodied itself.
With that out of the way let’s move onto the Variants:
SGT-8R - The Original variant of the Saggitire, and the soul variant we had for 10 years, is a close combat nightmare, packing twin large lasers, 5 Medium Pulse lasers a small pulse lasers, and a ER PPC for “token long range firepower” this firepower is on a fearsome package of 18 tons of armor with 3/5/3 movement with a XL fusion engine. The weapons setup is interesting, with both LPLs, paired MPLs and the SPL being arm mounted on “flippy arms” as well as 2 of the remaining 3 MPLs being rear mounted, the Saggitire actually has MORE close range firepower behind it then it does ahead of it. And with that kind of pulse laser firepower tied to a targeting computer (ohh right I forgot to mention that, yeah folks it has a targeting computer!) god help any Spider pilots who think hopping into your rear arc was a good idea… they’re going to regret not having an ejection seat!
As I mentioned beforehand, originally the Saggitire was designed when pulse laser targeting locations were doable, and the design was clearly intended to be a duelist, put in the hands of a skilled gunner who can buzz saw through torsos. And the fluff clearly represents this, with the changes the Saggy is a little less effective as a duelist, but is a valuable mech for built in areas. Especially if you’re fighting a lot of fast and annoying light mechs. Able to completely remove the TMM penalty of many popular light jumpers. It may no longer be the “BUZZ SAW OF DOOM” that it was previously, but it still holds a useful role in the AFFS.
The second Variant is the
SGT-9D - First introduced in 3074, (OOCly in 2012’s RS: 3067 unabridged) during the Jihad, the Saggitire 9D takes a very differant approach from any other design in the series. Functioning as a command mech. The variant swaps out the Targeting computer for a C3 Master, dumps the LPLs and replaces them with twin LB10X Autocannons (arm mounted) the over all weapons load is 1 ER PPC, 2 LB 10Xs with 2 tons ammo each, 5 Medium lasers (of these 2 are arm mounted 2 are rear mounted and 1 fires to the front) and 1 small pulse laser. And a C3 Master computer. This is a very different animal. Much like the classic original variant it actually has more rear firepower then. The LB10Xs combined with the ER PPC give this variant a considerably different range profile (especially considering the C3M computer) . I’ll admit I actually had been unaware of this variant until writing this article and I’m eager to give the variant a try. As I think it could be quite effective, able to lay down a barrage at range comparable to the classic Awesome. The Jump jets combined with the classic trait of “actually being able to lay heavier firepower behind it” also means that light mech headhunters won’t have an easy time with this command mech.
Up third is the Post Jihad Early Republic Era
SGT-10X- First introduced in 3084, the Sagittaire 10X is a classic example of “New Toy syndrome” as the RMW designers literally jammed every new technology they could find on the frame. The mech had its survivability increased by replacing the XL engine with a Light fusion engine, and then freed up space in the head and a spare extra ton by replacing the cockpit with a small cockpit. This allowed the mech space to mount triple torso mounted Medium VSPLs, a head mounted MVSPL and a Light PPC in each arm. As well as 5 Improved Jump jets allowing it to jump far longer than any 95 tonner has any right. Of course it pays 14 tons for this extra two jump movement. This Sagittaire variant has the distinction of being the first of it’s kind available outside the Federated Suns (ok ok the Flivelt coalition has the earlier models, but let’s be honest they don’t count). I have some issues with this variant. I know some people really like it as a heavy jumper with Medium VSPLs. But it loses so much to do this, for one thing it NEEDS this jumpy mobility more as it can no longer divert ample fire power to it’s rear, as the light PPCs are the only arm mounted flippy weapons it has, and no weapons fire to the rear. This isn’t necessarily BAD but it does mean the mech will play differently from earlier variants. Playing more like an oversized grasshopper. I’m not a big fan of IJJs myself (as I said that’s 14 TONS used to gain 2 jump movement). Over all this is an interesting variant but I’m not a fan of it. It reeks of “new toy syndrome”. My personal headcanon is this is a testbed model that is mostly used as the “Export model”
Finally we reach what I would call the, for now, ultimate evolution of the Sagittaire, the
SGT-14D - This variant, introduced in the 3130s, seems to combine a little bit of the last 3 variants, as well as technological breakthroughs made since the early days of the Republic, to produce a reasonably effective compromise. Maintaining the Light fusion engine and small cockpit of the 10X, the 14D removes the over toned Improved Jump jets, dropping down to 3 standard ones, all of this is mated to a new chassis made of composite endo-steel.
So with that out of the mind the obvious question is “what does it shoot with?” the answer is. An interesting mix. The design drops the PPCs, for triple large lasers, a single ER works as the token distance weapon, while backed up by two of the federated suns new RE Large Lasers.
Added to this mix are 3 Medium VSPLs, a Medium X Pulse laser, and a Boosted C3 slave (the only real nod to the excellent SGT-9D). The mech is kept “cool” by 17 double heat sinks and a radical heat sink. Learning from the mistakes of the past, all but the ER LL is mounted in the arms, allowing the Sagittaire 14D to fire the bulk of its weapons to the rear, while avoiding wasting tonnage on rear weaponry. As Robinson fell to the Dracs during the 3140s, enough of this mech has been produced to be on the DC MUL, given it’s the ONLY variant on their MUL, I think it’s safe to say that by 3145 this was the only variant of Sagittaire in production. Overall I think it’s a solid one, that combines the best of every variant into one package. And makes.. Not all together bad use of the Fedsuns new toys in the Dark Ages.
So that’s the Saggitire and my thoughts on it, what are yours?
